Sgt. Pepper’s on Yellow and Black Parlophone

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of The Beatles Available Now

UPDATE 2026

This commentary was written in 2010, prompted by our good fortune in finding a clean, -1/-1 original pressing of Sgt. Pepper, at a local record store, in stereo no less.

Since that time I believe we have played at least one other early pressing. We are unlikely to play another.

The originals have almost nothing in common with the amazing pressings that end up winning our shootouts, none of which have ever been mastered in the 60s to the best of my knowledge, although it is possible that ten or fifteen years ago, before we really got to know the record the way we know it now, there might have been one or two from that decade.

Since then the cutoff is somewhere in the mid-70s. We leave the specific years for you to figure out.

Of course, if you bought a White Hot Stamper copy from us, you know at least one of the stampers for at least one of the sides that wins a shootout, and perhaps both if you happened to have purchased a 3/3 Top Shelf copy. (At the time of this writing there are a total of seven on the site, out of about 500 records. Needless to say, they are very hard to find.)

Certainly nothing from 1967 and nothing on the original label.

And nothing in mono.

We had the opportunity not long ago to audition a very clean original early pressing of the album and were frankly quite taken aback by how just plain AWFUL it was in every respect. No top end above 8k or so, flabby bass, muddy mids — this was as far from Hot Stamper sound as you could get.

To be fair, we have played exactly one copy on our current system. (Played an early copy or two long ago but on much different equipment, so any judgments we might have made are highly suspect.) Perhaps there are good ones. We have no way of knowing whether there are, and we are certainly not motivated to find out given the price that original Sgt. Pepper’s pressings on the Yellow and Black label in audiophile playing condition are fetching these days.

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Basic Miles – Our Four Plus Shootout Winner

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Miles Davis Available Now

In 2018 we awarded this copy’s side two of Basic Miles our very special Four Plus (A++++) grade, which is strictly limited to pressings (really, individual sides of pressings) that take a recording to a level we’ve never experienced before, a level we had no idea could even exist.

We estimate that less than one per cent of the Hot Stamper pressings we come across in our shootouts earn this grade. As I write this there is not a single other record on the site that earned that grade on either side. You can’t get much more rare than that.

UPDATE 2026

  • Our lengthy commentary entitled outliers and out-of-this-world sound talks about how rare these kinds of pressings are and how we go about finding them.
  • We no longer give Four Pluses out as a matter of policy, but that doesn’t mean we don’t come across records that deserve them from time to time.
  • Nowadays we most often place them under the general heading of breakthrough pressings. These are records that, out of the blue, revealed to us sound of such high quality that it changes our appreciation of the recording itself.
  • We found ourselves asking “Who knew?” Perhaps a better question might have been “How high is up?”

Kind of Blue

Want to know how good our Hot Stamper Kind of Blue pressings sound? Listen to this very record. If you play the tracks that were recorded in 1958, the year before Kind of Blue, you will hear practically the same lineup of musicians.

That means Stella By Starlight and Little Melonae on side one, and Green Dolphin Street and Fran-Dance (Put Your Little Foot Right Out) on side two. We’re talking Bill Evans, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley in their prime, 1958, with top 1958 sound to match.

The nine-minute-plus Green Dolphin Street that opens side two is nothing short of amazing, some of the coolest jazz you will ever hear, on any record, at any price.

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Duke Ellington – At the Bal Masque (aka Dance to Duke!)

More of the Music of Duke Ellington

  • A seriously good sounding Stereo 6-Eye pressing with solid Double Plus (A++) sound on both sides
  • Here are boatloads of the kind of Tubey Magical richness that make these vintage Columbia recordings the uniquely satisfying listening experience we know them to be
  • The title of the album was changed soon after its release in 1959 to Dance to Duke! — note that the back cover and the label kept the original title: Ellington – His piano and his Orchestra at the Bal Masque
  • More superb sound from the legendary CBS 30th Street Studios in New York – the size and power of a jazz orchestra in glorious all analog sound
  • “Ellington and his all-star orchestra manage to transform what could be a set of tired revival swing into superior dance music and swinging jazz… a surprise success.”

If you want to know what it was like to attend an Ellington supper club concert, this record will do the trick (even though the album was recorded in the studio and the applause added later). Ellington’s magic is on display for everyone to hear. (more…)

Delibes / Coppelia / Ansermet

More Music Conducted by Ernest Ansermet

  • Superb sound from the Master Ballet Conductor, with both sides of this early London pressing earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or close to them
  • It’s also impossibly quiet at Mint Minus to Mint Minus Minus, a grade that practically none of our vintage classical titles – even the most well-cared-for ones – ever play at
  • Lovely string tone and texture, rich bass, a big hall, no smear, lovely transparency – the sound here is hard to fault (particularly on side one)
  • Recorded in Geneva’s exquisite Victoria Hall in 1957, this is a top performance from Ansermet and the Suisse Romande, the best we know of
  • A record like this lets you get lost in the world of its music, and what could be more important in a recording than that?
  • Enchanting music and sound combine on this copy to make one seriously good Demo Disc (also particularly on side one), if what you are trying to demonstrate is how relaxed and involved vintage analog can make you feel

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Bach / Suite No. 2 / Janigro

Hot Stamper Pressings Featuring the Violin Available Now

Our 2007 listing for this album presented it this way:

A 1S/1S Indianapolis pressing with A1 metal mothers from 1960 with sweet sound.

Perfectly fitting for these Baroque pieces recorded in Italy.

UPDATE 2022

In 2007 we rarely had the number of copies sufficient to carry out a serious shootout, which meant that records such as this one would be auditioned and, if they sounded good, sold on the basis of having good sound.

We judged records like this one on their absolute sound as opposed to the Hot Stamper shootout approach we use today, which gives us the record’s relative sound.

1S doesn’t mean much to us now, and even back then we knew better than to put much stock in it.

Starting all the way back in the 80s we had been in the business of selling Living Stereo and other vintage Golden Age pressings.

We knew from playing scores of them that often the best sounding pressings had stampers between 10s and 20s. This was true for LSC 1817, 2446 and no doubt many others that I can no longer remember.

UPDATE 2025

The comments about later stampers — 10s to 20s — being the best are definitely not true.

Early stampers most of the time do better than later stampers.

And the right early stampers for LSC 2446 are much better than even the best of the later ones.

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One of Our Best Sounding Pressings of Revolver Lacked Space on One Side

Hot Stamper Pressings of Revolver Available Now

On side one we played I’m Only Sleeping first, followed by Taxman.

On side two we started with And Your Bird Can Sing, followed by Good Day Sunshine.

You may notice that there seems to be a pattern in the way we pick which songs of each side to do first.

As you can see from the notes, side two of our most recent White Hot stamper Shootout Winner was doing everything right.

The second track was very tubey and present. Good Day Sunshine, the first track, was super rich and weighty, with lots of room around the vox. (I hope you can read our writing. If you can’t, just email me and I will try to find the time to transcribe the rest of the text.)

However, we had a side one that was slightly better than the side one you see here.

The Second Round

When we played the two best copies back to back, side two of this copy came out on top, earning a grade of 3+, but the side one of another pressing showed us there was even more space in the recording than we noticed the first time around.

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Miles Davis – Seven Steps to Heaven

More of the Music of Miles Davis

  • This original black print 360 Stereo label pressing was doing most everything right, with both sides earning solid Double Plus (A++) grades or BETTER
  • The Demo Disc sound throughout these sides is rich, full, sweet, tonally right on the money, and lively as can be
  • Columbia jazz records from this period are some of the best sounding jazz records ever made, and this is a perfect example of what is right with their recordings
  • When you drop the needle at the beginning of side one and hear Miles’s muted trumpet come jumping out of your speakers, we guarantee you will be amazed or your money back
  • 4 1/2 stars: “Seven Steps to Heaven finds Miles Davis standing yet again on the fault line between stylistic epochs.”

This is an interesting album: half of it is recorded in Hollywood and half of it in New York, with the songs in each location interspersed on the sides. Victor Feldman handles the piano duties in California; Herbie Hancock in New York. I actually prefer Victor Feldman’s playing on this record. We don’t get to hear his piano work often — he’s really quite good. (Cal Tjader started out on the drums but it’s tough to find records with him drumming.)

The Question Before the House

One of the thoughts that occurred to me when I was playing this record is this: Why is there no audiophile reissue on any label that sounds like this? There’s something about the sound of these old records, these original pressings, that’s impossible to recapture with modern equipment. It may not be impossible, but until somebody manages to do it, it might as well be.

If you exclusively play modern repressings of vintage recordings, I can say without fear of contradiction that you have never heard this kind of sound on vinyl. Old records have it — not often, and certainly not always — but maybe one out of a hundred new records do, and those are some pretty long odds.

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Sonny Rollins – Sonny Rollins & the Contemporary Leaders

More of the Music of Sonny Rollins

  • Hot Stamper sound brings Rollins’s second and last Contemporary release to life on this vintage pressing
  • Both of these sides are textbook examples of the kind of rich, smooth, effortlessly natural Contemporary jazz sound that Roy DuNann‘s All Tube Recording Chain was known for in 1958
  • If all you know are the Heavy Vinyl reissues of Sonny’s Contemporary catalog, we think it’s safe to say that you have never begun to hear these albums sound the way they should
  • This is a lot of money for a somewhat noisy copy, but the sound is so awesome and quiet pressings of the album so hard to come by that we hope someone will take a chance on it and get the thrill we did from hearing it sound right for once
  • “The last of the classic Sonny Rollins albums prior to his unexpected three-year retirement features the great tenor with pianist Hampton Hawes, guitarist Barney Kessell, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Shelly Manne… Great music.”

This Contemporary Label LP has THE BIG SOUND we love here at Better Records — rich and full-bodied with live-in-your-listening-room immediacy. The bass is deep, rock-solid, and note-like. There’s plenty of clarity and extension up top, bringing Shelly Manne’s fantastic work on the cymbals to life.

This is no Heavy Vinyl slogfest. Just listen to the leading edge transients on Sonny’s sax.

The guitar is warm, rich, and sweet, and just swimming in ambience.

Sonny is backed here by a heavy-hitting lineup of Barney Kessel, Shelly Manne, Leroy Vinnegar and Hampton Hawes — all favorite players of ours here at Better Records.

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Piano Works of Debussy & Ravel – This Is How to Make a Good Audiophile Record

Hot Stamper Pressings Engineered by Robert Ludwig Available Now

A lovely solo piano recording from Athena, which is certainly not a label we have ever associated with good sound. Just the opposite in fact.

But they did a great job on this album (or at least I thought so many years ago when I last played it. For purposes of this commentary, let’s assume the sound still holds up).

This is how to make a good audiophile record.

Yes, there is such a thing. They may be rare but they do exist. We have a few of them for sale as a matter of fact.

Take a good tape, hire someone who knows his way around a normal-speed cutting lathe (with 5800+ credits on Discogs, I would hope he knows what he’s doing) as well as classical music (he cut a huge number of records for Nonesuch back in the day), press it on good vinyl and let the audiophiles of the world enjoy it.

The Connoisseur Society original may in fact be better, but where are you going to find one?

Robert, Bernie and Doug – An Honest Comparison

In another listing for an audiophile record that Robert Ludwig cut, we noted:

I suspect that if Ludwig hadn’t stopped cutting records years ago, we would not be complaining nearly as much about the questionable sound of the modern Heavy Vinyl pressings currently inundating the market.

Bernie and Doug really started letting the record lovers of the world down, beginning as far back as the 90s. See here and here.

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Thick As a Brick on MoFi

Hot Stamper Pressings of the Music of Jethro Tull Available Now

Sonic Grade: D

Here you will find the same problems as the MoFi Meddle, released the previous year, 1984. Here is what we had to say about it back in the day when we were selling this kind of crap.

The MoFi is TRANSPARENT and OPEN, and the top end will be lush and extended. If you prize clarity, this is the one.

But if you prize clarity at the expense of everything else, you are seriously missing the boat on Meddle (and of course Thick As A Brick too).

The MoFi is all mids and highs with almost nothing going on below.

This is a rock record, but without bass and dynamics the MoFi pressing doesn’t rock, so why would anyone want to own it or play it?

The one thing these pressings have going for them is that they tend to be transparent in the midrange.

It sounds like someone messed with the sound, and of course someone did. That’s how they get those audiophile records to sound the way they do.

For some reason, some audiophiles like their records to sound pretty and lifeless with blurry bass.

The whomp factor on this pressing is Zero. Since whomp is critical to the sound of this album, it’s Game Over for us.

That is not our sound here at Better Records. We don’t offer records with shortcomings like these and we don’t think audiophiles should have to put up with records that sound the way this one does.

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